Freak Accident... Truckers beware!!!

[USMCBay]

Motorist killed when vessel slips off trailer

Pasadena police say the load was too tall for trestle

By RUTH RENDON
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Pasadena police on Monday were investigating a freak accident in which a woman was killed when a steel vessel fell on her sport utility vehicle.
Police said the vessel — about 8 feet in diameter and about 10 feet tall — was being transported on the back of a trailer about 1 p.m. when it failed to clear a railroad trestle in the 800 block of Red Bluff, police spokesman Vance Mitchell said.
"The load was taller than the railroad trestle and the steel vessel came off the trailer and struck the vehicle," Mitchell said.
The vessel, which was being transported to an area refinery, slipped off the truck as it traveled eastbound while the SUV was going westbound.
The female driver died at the scene, Mitchell said.
The woman's name was being withheld pending notification of family.
Mitchell said no citations were issued to the driver of the pickup.
"It was a freak accident," Mitchell said. "That's what we're calling it until an investigation is done and we can determine otherwise."
The railroad trestle, which spans across Red Bluff, is not marked with any signs telling drivers how much clearance there is, Mitchell said.
Mitchell said authorities are trying to determine who is responsible for the clearance markings: the city or railroad companies.
Police had not encountered any problems of cargo hitting the railroad trestle prior to Monday.